The Diameter protocol is a next generation authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) protocol. The Diameter base protocol is defined in IETF RFC 3588, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Commonly used within the Internet multimedia subsystem (IMS) architecture, the Diameter protocol was derived from the remote authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS) protocol. Historically, the RADIUS protocol was employed by Internet service providers (ISPs) to provide a secure communication channel between an ISP's access server and a secure location where user credential information was stored, e.g., a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) server. While the RADIUS protocol provided a standardized AAA exchange protocol, the emergence of new technologies and applications necessitated the development of a protocol capable of meeting ever-changing demands. Diameter aims to extend the standardized approach of RADIUS while providing expanded functionality and remaining open to future development.
Modern telecommunication architectures, such as the IMS architecture, often employ CSCFs as proxies to process signaling messages and interface the transport, control, and application planes. CSCFs serve as intermediary entities within the network architecture, supporting the registration of subscribers and the establishment of sessions between subscribers. While the utilization of CSCFs provides network operators with the ability to flexibly establish inter-network sessions, their use is also associated with overhead. For example, registering a network subscriber within a network and/or establishing a session for a network subscriber may require significant inter-node messaging to determine an appropriate CSCF for the subscriber. A reduction in the amount of inter-node messaging associated with identifying a CSCF may thereby increase network performance.
Accordingly, a need exists for methods, systems, and computer readable media for caching CSCF data at a DSR.